Promise Me
by uptightcrankyshadownet
Summary: Fluffy Alma/Dylan oneshot (everyone writes about relationships between the Horsemen, nobody talks about the one proven canon couple! D:) two years after the saga where Dylan proposes :)


It had been, obviously, quite meticulously planned. Alma had stood by the side all the way, watching as Merritt bought a balloon from a passing seller in the park, even letting the seller pick the one he wanted to give to him, then popped it open when they got to the barbecue pit, revealing a magician's cloth. Jack had placed said extravagant velvet cloth over the empty pit, swished it off, and there lay numerous chunks of charcoal. Daniel broke off a random branch from a tree he had been leaning on, extending it before her eyes until it was longer than his arm, then passing it to Henley, who shoved it down her throat. The moment she removed it, fire came bursting from between her lips, bright yellow and red tongues licking against the raven-black lumps in the pit. The charcoal burnt to ash, crumbling to fluffy grayish flakes that fell apart at one touch.

Except for one, solid hunk, that lay amongst the cinders like the last one standing in an apocalypse. Dylan picked it up, gazing at it reverently the way one would regard a god, and with a flourish, the Horsemen and their leader bowed.

Alma clapped politely, and then quickly said what she wanted to ask. "One question."

"Not about how we did the trick." The entire quintet chorused as one.

"I've dated Dylan long enough to know that. I'm more interested in... how did you manage to lock off Central Park to _everyone_ except usfor two hours?"

They laughed good-humouredly, while Henley put an arm around Alma. "Hey, when you're the most prominent, affluent group of magicians on the globe, who're known by second name as Robin Hoods, we could probably have shut Central off for the entire day. The moment we walked into the office to negotiate, the receptionist actually fell off his chair. Literally. You can imagine."

Alma shook her head incredulously. "We could have had so much less fuss, you know."

"Tell Dylan that." Jack snickered, stowing his cloth into one of his numerous unseen pockets. "Best leave you two alone for now."

The Horsemen, as if on cue, all melted away into the gradually lengthening shadows of the setting sun, leaving no trace that they were ever there. Instead, Dylan stepped forward, alone, looking straight into her eyes with that gaze that had captured her heart two years ago. In his hand he still held the wedge of charcoal that miraculously hadn't burnt along with the others when Henley had set them all alight. His fingers spread open, letting her see the coal. "Seems like any other piece of coal you'd find in the sack, huh?"

"Considering it didn't get burnt while every other piece around it crumbled into embers, I'd say it looks the same... but it's different."

Dylan nodded gently, using his free hand to capture her jaw and turn her face up so her eyes could catch the fading natural sunlight. "Just like you." His voice when he spoke to her, about her, was so different from the usual brash coarseness on the job. "Back then, you seemed so much the same as all the others I'd ever known at Interpol. So full of yourself, thinking you could possibly be better than us, and all that. I thought you were going to be a moron and I was stuck with you. Instead... you were the most beautiful, most breathtaking person I'd ever met. You- every single day- amaze me more than any illusion the Horsemen could ever perform."

An indignant "Oi!" from what seemed like merely a tree nearby was quickly silenced with a muffled "oomph" and mortified warning hiss, and Alma bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Dylan licked his lips, letting a small smile play on his face. "Alma Dray, Interpol officer, fellow hero, life changer, the greatest woman I've ever had the privilege to know. I'm stuck with you, and I'm glad I am." He squeezed the lump of black substance in his hand, and let the powdery residue fall from the space between his fingers.

When he opened his hand, all that remained was a sooty black layer on his skin, and a diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?" He said it so quietly she could have sworn he hadn't said it, and yet the four words reverberated around the entire area, echoing back and pounding in her skull. Alma felt the tears blurring her vision and tried to swallow against the lump in her throat, suddenly incapable of speaking.

"Yes," The word came from her general direction, and both Alma and Dylan jumped; she had _not _said that.

"Merritt!" Three hushed voices grated out. "Not the time for ventriloquism!"

Alma swiped her sleeve across her eyes, looking out and straining to see beyond the shadows. "Hey, Merritt! Thanks!" She threw her arms around the unsuspecting Dylan, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. "_Yes, _Dylan Rhodes. I will marry you."

They held each other for a long moment, just embracing in the knowledge that they were bound together, and finally when the Horsemen came out from their hiding places, applauding, Dylan slid the ring onto Alma's finger.

"Promise me something?" She leaned close so that the other magicians couldn't hear, just her and Dylan, pressing so close it could have counted as a kiss.

"Anything."

"Promise me this isn't another show. Promise me I'm not dreaming."

Dylan smiled against her lips, capturing them in a kiss. "I promise."


End file.
